Vietnam War and the Media
Write an essay that offers a critical examination of the concept of the ‘guilty media’ thesis in respect of any war of your choice
Natasa Perdiou
The Vietnam War was the first war that allowed uncensored media coverage resulting in images and accounts of horrific events that served to shape public opinion of the war like nothing that had been seen before. This portrayal by the media led to a separation between the press and the U.S. government, as much of what was reported defied the intentions of government policy. The media has fell blame by many for the result of the war, as it is widely believed that the war could not have been won under the scrutiny that came from the American people as a result of the media coverage. From the beginning of the Vietnam War to the present, the media has been an immeasurable factor in the perception of the war as the stories, true or false, that were reported gave the American people a face to an ugly war.
The question over how much, if any, the media had affected the outcome of the war has been an unrelenting one and is likely to continue for a long time to come. But one fact that cannot be doubted is that the dreadfulness of war entered the living rooms of Americans for the first time during the Vietnam War. For nearly a decade the American public could watch villages being destroyed, Vietnamese children burning to death, and American body bags being sent home. Although early coverage mainly supported U.S involvement in the war, television news dramatically changed its frame of the war after the Tet Offensive. Images of the U.S led massacre at My Lai dominated the television, yet the daily atrocities committed by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong rarely made the evening news. Moreover, the anti-war movement at home gained increasing media attention while the U.S soldier was forgotten in Vietnam.
There was a stable build up of US military support activity in Vietnam during the period 1954 to
Natasa Perdiou
The Vietnam War was the first war that allowed uncensored media coverage resulting in images and accounts of horrific events that served to shape public opinion of the war like nothing that had been seen before. This portrayal by the media led to a separation between the press and the U.S. government, as much of what was reported defied the intentions of government policy. The media has fell blame by many for the result of the war, as it is widely believed that the war could not have been won under the scrutiny that came from the American people as a result of the media coverage. From the beginning of the Vietnam War to the present, the media has been an immeasurable factor in the perception of the war as the stories, true or false, that were reported gave the American people a face to an ugly war.
The question over how much, if any, the media had affected the outcome of the war has been an unrelenting one and is likely to continue for a long time to come. But one fact that cannot be doubted is that the dreadfulness of war entered the living rooms of Americans for the first time during the Vietnam War. For nearly a decade the American public could watch villages being destroyed, Vietnamese children burning to death, and American body bags being sent home. Although early coverage mainly supported U.S involvement in the war, television news dramatically changed its frame of the war after the Tet Offensive. Images of the U.S led massacre at My Lai dominated the television, yet the daily atrocities committed by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong rarely made the evening news. Moreover, the anti-war movement at home gained increasing media attention while the U.S soldier was forgotten in Vietnam.
There was a stable build up of US military support activity in Vietnam during the period 1954 to
References: 2. Don Oberdorfer, Tet!, September 1, 1971 3 4. Hallin, Daniel C., The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam. Los Angles: California University of California Press, 1986. 5. George Herring, America 's Longest War: The United States in Vietnam, 1950-1975 (1986) 6 7. Westmoreland, William C. A Soldier Reports (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1976) 8 9. Wyatt, Clarence R. Paper Soldiers: The American Press and the Vietnam War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.